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A Guide To Brooklyn-Inspired Food in Perth

It’s just one borough of New York, but Brooklyn’s food has a specific flavour profile. In partnership with Connoisseur Gourmet Ice-Cream’s new Brooklyn Collection, we explore where you can try these flavours at home.

Brooklyn Bar

Photography: Rebecca Mansell

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Brooklyn Bar

Photography: Rebecca Mansell

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Mack Daddy's

Photography: Rebecca Mansell

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Published on 22 September 2016

by Jessica Arnott

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“We wanted an excuse to play hip-hop all day,” says owner George Sannino of Brooklyn Lounge in Claremont. “What better inspiration than Brooklyn for good food and hip-hop?”

Everything on the cocktail menu at Brooklyn Lounge is named after someone from the New York borough, including the Barbara Streisand and the Notorious B.I.G. The venue serves beer from Williamsburg-based Brooklyn Brewery and small-batch Brooklyn Gin. “People love it,” says Sannino of the gin. “Even at $18 a shot we can't keep up with demand.”

The venue’s food menu is also a tribute to the red-sauce capital of New York, with Italian-American classics such as meatballs, and a gooey eggplant parmigiana. “There's not too many places like Brooklyn Lounge that I know of,” says Sannino. “There are plenty of American-style venues around, but they’re mostly Southern smoke houses.”

Liam Foad, owner of the newly opened Mack Daddy’s New York Slice, agrees. “I have noticed a big American food movement over the last few years,” he says. “But it’s mostly barbeque. At Mack Daddy’s we wanted to provide authentic Brooklyn pizza. We looked at pretty much every New York pizza menu we could find. I love how big the slices are.”

The dough for Foad’s giant 22-inch pizza bases is proofed for 24 hours and hand-stretched, just like in New York. “There are lots of great pizza restaurants in Perth but our style is unique to us,” he says. “It’s not just the size but also the style of the crust, which is key to any slice you’d find in Brooklyn.”

Foad was attracted to Brooklyn for its culture as much as for what makes it to the plate. “I think the most inspiring thing about Brooklyn is how long so many of the venues have been operating,” he says. “They’ve been trading for generations and have grandsons working with fathers and grandfathers. They are neighbourhood institutions that are loved by the community.”

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Foad recommends Mack Daddy’s Baller Pizza topped with homemade meatballs, spicy Italian sausage, onion and chilli. “It’s a customer favourite,” he says. “You have to have balls and be used to heat if you’re going to be a Brooklyn Baller.”